In Darkened Times
by Tania24
Summary: A young faerie princess trying to live up to a mysterious profecy finds herself in a web of lies and betrayal. Will a chance meeting with a handsome elven prince lead her to her destiny or to her doom?


This is the prologue to my book, if you like it I will post more of it so please feel free to email me and tell me what you think. If it sounds a little like LOTR it's not intended to, but JRR Tolken did his research and so did I. It is actually derived from Faerie lore from around the world, so please enjoy and please rate and review

Oh yeah, if anyone knows of another book or movie with the same name please let me know so I can change it

The forest was dark and placid as the sun began to fall behind the tree tops. As Tania stood in silence she felt in the pit of her stomach an impending danger begin to loom over her. The fourth new moon of the year was to start the mating dance of the sylphs, also known as wind sprites, yet the air was still and strangely quiet, not a folleti or folletto to be seen. Tania knew something had to be critically wrong. Could they be late perhaps? The thought was quickly dismissed from her mind, it was impossible; the sylphs had been coming to the sacred spring every year since the birth of their kind. Tania bent down to the spring, scooped her hands in and brought them to her mouth. The water was cool and sweet and with the back of her hand she wiped away the last of the droplets running down her chin. A fear had been growing in her mind since she arrived in the clearing and she was about to find out why. There were only two possibilities to explain the disappearance, either the sylph had been scared out or they had been forced out. There was one thing she was sure of, whomever or whatever was responsible for this would not be far away. Slowly Tania began to back towards the darkened path she had come when a familiar sound stopped her dead in her tracks. It was a low growl, a growl made in the back of one's throat, the kind of growl that could only mean one thing, orchi. Most Giants will stay kind to other beings, even help them if in a generous moods, but the orchi go out of their way to disturb peace and balance. They are evil creatures that raid small farms and steal the livestock. They stand at almost seven feet tall, their skin is burnt, blistered, blackened and smells of rotting flesh. They are slow and dimwitted and can easily be out-maneuvered, however, despite that, they are considered very dangerous, this lies solely in the fact that they are seen in groups no smaller than ten.

Tania reached beneath the dark cloak draped over her shoulders and produced a long silver sword. An orchi's strike was deadly, but if she could reach the lake before they could get to her she might be able to call upon the great water mare to get her across safely, but first the trick is in getting there in time. A moment later her worst fears became reality, for out of the trees across from her marched the largest orchi she had ever encountered. Tania's tightened mouth uplifted into a smirk, the bigger he was the harder it would be for him to catch her. Her eyes stayed fixed on the creature, when suddenly, from out of the shadows behind the beast emerged dark archers. Her stomach sunk at the sight, her grayish blue eyes turned into a dark navy with fear. An orchi she could handle on her own, she could even take on a small group of them with minimal help, but these dark archers were something entirely different. Dark archers were once creatures of good until they sold their souls to the darkest courts, while much shorter than orchi they are faster in every way compared to the orchi. They could also prove to be a much bigger threat, one that she knew she would not be able to face alone and survive. Knowing the danger in sticking around, Tania did the only thing she could think of, though she hated to do it. Tania turned and started into a dead run down the path she had come, hoping only that she could keep well out of range from their arrows. She could heal herself well enough from an arrow or two, but a whole troop firing at her might be a little bit more difficult to do. She bolted desperately into the darkness and the dark archers followed, Tania, fighting for survival and the archers fighting to deny her of it.


End file.
